The Mastermind
by Eponymous
Summary: "Please allow me to introduce myself..."


Spoiler Note: Takes place after episode 16, "Shadows".  
  
The Mastermind  
by Eponymous  
  
  
Please allow me to introduce myself. I am the one responsible for all   
of your recent misfortune. Please, do not waste your time or energy   
attempting to threaten me. I think we can both agree that one powerful   
enough to do what I have done in the past few months has little to fear   
from you. Good, I'm glad you concur.  
  
Permit me to explain my actions. I am not usually prone to violence.   
Indeed, I'm rarely prone to any form of overt activity. I prefer to   
stand on the sidelines, providing my services to those who ask and   
watching their success with no small bit of pride. My emissary is a   
particular favorite of mine.  
  
Which is what has brought us to where we are today. It was only a few   
months ago that she first approached you with the idea of seeking my   
assistance, wasn't it? I know it must seem longer, given everything   
that's happened in between, but it was only a few months ago that she   
first made mention of my offer to you.  
  
She can be a bit... overzealous, at times, I admit. But surely you   
must have seen that all she really wanted to do was to help you. A   
lesser person wouldn't have done what she did. A lesser person would   
have kept me a secret, used me as an edge against you. But that   
thought never even entered into her mind. Her first and only thought   
was to share her success with you. Her friends.  
  
You could have humored her. You could have done as she asked and then   
gone on with your lives. You were already halfway there anyway. It's   
not like I ask that much for my services; not like some other beings I   
could mention. I don't ask for innocent blood, or a virgin sacrifice,   
or a human soul. All I ask is that you make yourself up a little and   
acknowledge my presence. That's all. Just a symbolic nod of the head,   
just to say, 'Yes, I see you there' and I'm more than willing to give   
you that which you've always wanted. Would it have been so hard to do   
that? You needn't even have believed in me; I would have helped you   
anyway. I am a simple being; all I really need is a pretty girl or two   
to smile in my direction to make me happy. Would that really have been   
so difficult?  
  
But instead of listening to her, obliging and doing as she asked,   
instead of humoring this girl who thought you were her friends, what   
did you do? You spat in her face, trampled upon her most deeply   
cherished beliefs, mocked her faith and hunted her down like an animal.  
  
I became annoyed.  
  
The first thing I did was to grant my services to her, as I do every   
year. She won the triathlon and was accepted into University   
Satellite. It was the least I could do for someone who'd suffered so   
greatly in my name. But for one who had suffered so greatly, I wasn't   
about to stop at the least. In short order, I took it upon myself to   
avenge the horrible treatment she had endured.  
  
First was Jessie Gurtland. She had threatened to grind my emissary's   
idol, which she used in her ritual to me, into toothpicks. She   
received that idol from her great grandmother, another who was quite   
kind to me, shortly before she passed away. Not that you cared. I   
planted the seeds of obsession in Jessie's mind, and started her on the   
self-destructive spiral which has recently brought her crashing down to   
Earth.  
  
Next came Ichino Yanagida, who had poisoned my emissary's friend   
against her. It was I who caused her to trip and lose balance in her   
race against Akari, breaking her leg and removing any chance of her   
attending University Satellite as she dreamed.  
  
Miss Wong did nothing but stand back and commentate. I left her alone.  
  
Akari Kanzaki was simple enough. I simply unleashed Jessie on her.   
Though she has repeatedly risen up in the face of adversity, I've seen   
to it that at each instance she gets knocked down again.  
  
Finally, Ayla Veferassca Roznovsky, who *struck* my emissary. I   
destroyed her entire country.  
  
I have come here today to tell you that I am finished. Through the   
actions of one I had underestimated, my emissary has been removed from   
the running for Cosmo Beauty this year. I am more concerned with her   
emotional wellbeing than I am continuing my revenge against you, and   
shall be putting every resource available to me towards making my   
presence known to her, and comforting the pain you haven't even noticed   
she is suffering. I see no reason to continue in my pursuit of   
vengeance, as my actions have already had their desired effect on most   
of you.  
  
Besides, I've looked ahead to see what the fates have in store for you.   
It isn't pretty.  
  
So, as in the coming months you shall search for reason and   
understanding of things beyond you, in a desperate quest to make sense   
of your situation, allow me, as a being of great power of wisdom, to   
offer you a word of advice, to carry with you for the rest of your   
days.  
  
Don't screw with Woong-A-Ji.  
  
  
END  
  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
Anybody else notice how Battle Athletes: Victory doesn't start to get   
serious until the episode right after 'Night of Woong-A-Ji'? Just a   
thought.  
  
----------  
  
Battle Athletes: Victory was created by Hiroki Hayashi and is the   
property of AIC and Pioneer Entertainment. 


End file.
